"Hurt People"

"Hurt People" is definitely one of the more interesting editorials I have read this political cycle. In this piece, the author seeks to explore why people have made the decisions that they have in this election. Why are white working class people voting for a self promoting demagogue who will most likely do nothing to advance their status in society? What makes this same group of people lash out and oppress when they themselves are suffering? As the author claims, “Hurt people hurt people.” When somebody feels attacked, belittled, or in pain, it easy to blame others. Wieseltier claims that in regards to politics, people “seek saviors, not programs.” This has led to the ascension of Trump as the Republican nominee and possibly the future president of the United states when he most likely not help them anyway. “The people who support the white working class have been voting for Bernie Sanders, but the white working class has been voting for Donald Trump.” 

In the piece Leon Wieseltier draws from an array of sources, ranging from Karl Marx, to The Deer Hunter, to Adam Smith, to Ta-Nehisi Coates. I think that he uses these to try to draw from a wide base, make his opinion as relatable as possible. However, if he is trying to relate to his audience, writing this with the dictation of a dissertation is probably not the best way to go about this. Although this si technically a popular article, it is written so scholarly that it is hard to follow, using specialized language and referring to so many different sources. I picked up what he was putting down, but it was quite heavy.

Being an opinion piece about Donald Trump, it is interesting that Wieseltier only uses Trump’s name four times, one of those times being in the sub-headline. It is hard to follow that this is actually the subject of his piece. When I got to his last sentence, “Either [Trump] wins or America does,” I found myself confused as to why this was the conclusion. It is so much scholarly rambling to get to this point. I think that he was trying so hard to give himself credibility in this piece that his message got lost.